Inside and out

Yesterday, Mike finished up on his part of the workshop by installing the frame and floor/ceiling for the storage room/loft.
As with all his work, it was fast and accurate -- a real pro. I look forward to working with him again.






Today I went to Squirrel Cove to do my laundry and witnessed an amazing bird feast/fest on the bach where a fisherman had dumped a load of salmon carcasses. First the gulls, then the crows, then the turkey vultures and finally the bald eagles came to feed. Each successive group chased away the previous occupants. Here you see the turkey vultures before the eagles shooed them away.

May's Garden location

If you are wondering where we are on Cortes Island, here's a pic that might help, courtesy of Google Earth. (click on the picture to see the detail)

Getting close...

Here's the more or less finished structure of the workshop with the lean to shed on the south side. The posts for the shed are cedar trees that were cut when we cleared the areas for the workshop and house.




The final brown metal roof came in 12 pieces that were 3' x 21'. Each piece is screwed down with 40 screws. That work was hard on the back! So...


... I hit the hammock.

Early this morning I found this interesting geometric light play in the as yet unroofed building.

Then it was time to make a call on Henry at Blue Jay Farm, 2km off the main road, back in the hills. He has an extensive farm operation growing veggies, raising chickens and cows. Henry also runs one of the best little saw mills on the island and that was the reason for my visit.


In the photo he is cutting 20ft long 2 x 10s out of a fir log. These are for the beam that will support the shed roof. It's kind of amazing to watch a log get turned into precisely cut dimension lumber. When he started up the mill, powered by a VW motor, he handed me a set of ear muffs and explained how the mill works as he cut the log. We loaded the cut 2 x 10s on my roof rack and I headed back to May's Garden...



When I got back Mike had got all the plywood on the roof. After lunch he nailed it with his nail gun shooting hundreds of nails per minute!

Rafters

We have 22 rafters spaced 16" apart to support the roof. As you can see they have a tasteful curve in the ends.
The next step is to put blocks between the rafter ends and then put a plywood roof on before the final layer of metal roofing.

Simon gets to work. David's digger digs good!

My very special fathers day gift was a visit from son Simon. We had a great Saturday of hanging out, kayaking and swimming. Today we went to work early and backfilled sand into the electrical ditch to cover the Hydro and Telus cables.








Then David showed up with his John Deere digger and made short work of completing the job plus backfilling all around the building.

I am blessed with great family and wonderful friends!!!

New mooring for Sunshine

Eli and Adam McKenty are diving brothers who live on Cortes. Today they came to check out the mooring that Sunshine - and now - Gwyneth are on. They replaced the mooring line, swivels and buoy.

They are a great team and a delight to work with!


And now Sunshine is once securely  moored and a hazard no longer to herself or other boats!

Raising the big wall!

The "big wall" measures 30 x 14ft and we framed it and put the "ranchwall" siding on on the ground. As you can imagine it was heavy! However, Mike Malek, who is in charge of the construction, has these amazing wall jacks -- metal lever things that slide onto a 2 x 4. You hook them on the top edge of the wall while it is on the ground and start levering. We used two of them and little by little, with lots of pauses to rearrange the safety bracing, we raised the wall. Here's a little video if you want to see how it works...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzDtPOZ0y4A <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzDtPOZ0y4A>






(The music is by our friends Erratica)

Flowers around May's Garden...

Last night, as I was walking down Hague Rd., I noticed an exquisite scent in the air. It was sweet and heavenly and coming from the honeysuckle hedge near the tool shed. So tonight...



... I took some photos for you. Too bad that computer technology does not yet permit me to send you the scent. (That would be a sent scent, right. And that's my two cents worth for tonight).

These flowers are so exquisite and the bees love them!





Here's a wild rose making sweet talk to a honeysuckle.





Daisies are surely the happiest flowers around!

Solar shower

Had my first solar shower here today. The hose from the pump house is black ABS that sits in the sun all day. By late afternoon there's a good volume of hot water available for a nice hot shower. Adjustable jet too... mist, shower, jet... so many options! Anyway, sorry I could not include my lovely naked body in the pic, but that was too much technological work for me;)

So after I shower, I let the water run cold and then fill the water tank on the trailer. Cute eh?

Oh life here is so much fun!

First wall up

This is the north wall of the workshop. Mike Malek and I framed it and put the siding on today. It's 30ft long by 8ft high and just the two of were able to raise it thanks to Mike's amazing wall jacks. He's great to work with, very knowledgeable and skilled. Fun too.




When finished, the workshop will be 30 x 16ft with a 9 x 18ft shed roof on the south side. You'll get the picture as the work progresses....

Jobs done!

This is the completed septic drain field, neatly covered in raked sand and waiting for the cedar trees around to turn it back into forest floor. It won't take long. I am so grateful to Robbie Driediger for his conscientious work on this project. It may not be romantic, but it's an important part of the infrastructure for a well built house. Thanks Robbie!







Laundry day at the trailer park. I actually took the load of laundry over to David's place to wash and rinse and then brought it back here to dry. Luckily today is a good drying day.

Last night I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies (using a mix). Mmmm they are some good! I also used the new wok I found at the free store. It's excellent! Way too big for just me but it will get lots of use once we have a house. So life in the trailer is settling into a pretty comfortable routine. Little by little I'm finding the best places to store stuff and handle my daily chores.

I still don't have a water line connected to the trailer because the pressure tank I bought for the pump house turned out to be defective. I'm returning it and getting a replacement later this week. Meanwhile, it's not a big chore to just switch the pump on a for a few minutes when I want to fill the tank.

The new Hydro Meter Pole

Darren and Sylvie watch as another alder tree falls. They made a great team taking out the trees to make space for the new hydro meter pole.












Today, Robbie Driediger set the new pole in place and dug a ditch to run the conduit to the workshop.



















Here is our considerable and growing pile of future firewood. Mostly alder, a good burning wood. Plenty of work still in cutting and splitting it. But then we don't even have a fireplace yet or a house to put it in, so there's no hurry.








This is the pile of lumber for the workshop. Mike Malek and I will start work on Tuesday (june 15th) on the framing. He figures it should take about a week to get the framing and siding done and the roof sheathed.

Outhouse Up!

With the very capable help of Darren Prentice, we built an outhouse in one day. Well it still needs a few finishing touches, like a door, but it's fully functional. I know, I tested it.























The meadow! This is for me one of the most stunning aspects of our piece of heaven... a huge open meadow with long grass, deer trails and lots of space for campers...
In the evenings I like to sit on the deck and play my flute for an audience of mostly birds. Occasionally a deer. They seem to enjoy it... I know I do.